Facebook plans new data center in growing Irish cloud hub

Facebook announced Monday their plans to open a new data center in Ireland, making the social media giant the latest of many technology companies to set up shop in Ireland.

The facility, which will be the newest energy efficient center to play a role in Ireland’s recovering economy, is Facebook’s second data center in Europe used for housing computers that will run cloud computing services where users store data on secure servers instead of their own network or computer.

Ireland’s temperate climate, low corporate tax rate, and the recent surge in presence of some of the world’s largest internet companies have been a catalyst for the country’s growth as a cloud hub.

In the past decade, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have also opened their own data centers in the country, and many technology companies are too, investing their resources there.